She wrappedher arms around me and gave me a hug; a real hug from a real person. Ihugged her back. Neither of us spoke. But I felt her warmth; I fel...twhat I thought was her affection, which was something I had longed forever since mother was killed.Finally breaking our embrace I looked up into her eyes and said "Um ...congratulations Marta, and father. I ... I'm very happy for you both."Father looked at his watch. "I've got to run. There is a receptiontonight at the Chilean embassy. Sorry. "Somebody get that," yelled Donna, grabbing a few more items as sheheard the doorbell ring as Tracey raced down the stairs now dressed."Timothy," said Tracey, surprised, opening the door as Cameronimmediately turned white seeing him. "What are you doing here?" Sorry to bother you Tracey, but I left you a few messages and when Ididn't hear back, I had my mom drive me here," said Timothy, holdingout a little red purse. "Cammi left this last night, and I thought shemight need it." That was nice of. On the other hand, my pre-ASVAB test down at the recruitment center said that I was qualified for any number of jobs in the service. I guess the Army liked average guys.By the end of May, Sergeant Donaldson had come out to the house and met my parents. Mom still wasn’t happy with me, but she did agree that any sort of college education, even going through the Army, would be better than none. Dad didn’t say much, but he listened closely. His comments were to go with the Four-Four plan, just in. . will explain in a minute. Let's order, shall we?"She refused to speak as they ate, merely saying, "I'd like to just enjoy the meal."Afterwards, she suggested walking a little way along the prom to find a bench where they could sit and talk without an audience.Once they were settled, she took a deep breath and began to tell him about her life prior to meeting him. Some of it, he already knew. What he hadn't known, he'd inferred anyway, so there were no real surprises, but he said nothing, just.